This invention relates to a shopping cart, and more particularly, to a shopping cart having an improved gate catch and baby basket.
Shopping carts have various types of front gates which can be lowered to unload groceries and other articles conveniently from the upper basket of the cart. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,645,554, 3,245,498, 3,297,108, and U.S. Pat. No. Re. 25,616 are typical of such gate constructions. Some of the conventional gate constructions, however, can be easily manipulated and opened by a child, or will sometimes open accidentally if the cart is being improperly pulled by the front gate. Moreover, some conventional gates have a tendency to open when the shopping cart is being pushed along a parking lot, curb or other bumpy surface, which may then cause the groceries in the cart to spill out.
Conventional shopping carts usually have a collapsible baby basket located within the interior of the upper basket. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,508,670, 2,662,775, 2,813,725, 2,837,344, 2,871,024, 2,916,291, 2,896,959, 2,931,662, 3,157,410 and 3,184,248 illustrate various types of baby baskets located within the interior of an upper basket of a shopping cart. Such an arrangement, however, occupies valuable storage space and results in a relatively high center of gravity for both the shopping cart and the child sitting in the baby basket. It is elementary physics that the higher the center of gravity of an object, the greater the tendency of that object or mass to tip over or fall, if not properly supported. Thus a shopping cart having a high center of gravity has a greater tendency to tip over and cause the baby sitting in the baby basket to accidentally fall out of the cart if the cart and the baby seat are not properly supported, than a shopping cart having a low center of gravity.
Another problem which can occur with traditional shopping carts is that the child can often reach into the interior of the upper basket and grab various items, which the child may break or injure himself with or throw into the aisle to present a danger for others. Or the child can lift up the front gate and cause the groceries in the cart to spill into the aisle. Sometimes, the child can also reach items on the shelf and tip over displays.
Another type of shopping cart has a baby basket positioned below the upper basket, as, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,297,108 and 3,245,498. These prior art constructions, however, position the child facing generally toward the front of the cart and directly below the bottom of the upper basket, which permits the child sitting in the basket to kick the bottom of the upper basket and break or otherwise damage groceries in the basket, or to kick, lift or in some other manner open the gate of the upper basket, or to kick groceries in any bottom basket that may be included in the cart. These prior art constructions also permit the child to reach items on the shelves and tip over displays. Moreover, such prior art constructions do not adequately protect the child from accidentally being struck by other carts or by the corners of shelves. Because the baby is facing away from his mother who is pushing one of these prior art carts, the mother cannot see her baby's face or effectively tend to his needs.